


Like Old Times

by lawofavgs



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 22:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6539728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lawofavgs/pseuds/lawofavgs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's back in that King County parking lot, like nothing had changed.</p>
<p>Except this time, there's a ghost in the passenger seat.</p>
<p>(Spoilers up to 6x16 + Pure out of nowhere guess at who gets Lucille’d)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Old Times

The car Rick was sitting in was as familiar as it was foreign. He could smell the fries and the ketchup just as sure as he could feel the fur trim of his jacket brushing against his neck.

“What’s the difference between men and women?”

The words were his own (spoken in another life), but the voice was different, the tone sly and slightly teasing.

Beside him, in his usual seat, was Shane. Dark red blood was coating the front of his light blue shirt, partially obscured by his jacket.

Glenn was gone and Shane, his friend, his partner, his _brother_ was sitting there, a mocking vision.

“I guess you really aren’t the good guy anymore.” Another comment, cool and condescending.

“I can’t…I can’t do this,” Rick remarked, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to regain some mental balance.

“Just so you know, for what it’s worth, I would’ve gone after those sons of bitches, too. Killed them in their sleep, same as you.”

It’s worth little, practically nothing.

“He’s dead, Shane. It’s my fault. We killed all those men and it didn’t even matter. It didn’t keep Glenn alive.”

“Lemme ask you somethin’,” Rick rolled his eyes, the familiar words floating over him, “do you think those ‘Saviors’ would’ve found you eventually?”

“Yes.”

“And when they did, it would've been more people to fight. In the end, someone you care about still would’ve been on the receiving end of that bat. This is war, man. You don’t get to live without casualties.”

Rick shook his head, turning slightly in his seat to stare out his window. The parking lot was empty, save for their cruiser. “I was cocky. I thought for sure that we were untouchable, that we could survive anything. And Glenn paid the price for that.”

“Aw, that’s horseshit, man,” Shane responded, his tone annoyed. “You always do this. One thing goes wrong and you just, you just sit there and blame yourself, all ‘woe is me’. What fuckin’ good does that do anybody?”

Shane rubbed a hand over his head briskly, the sound of the short hairs scratching against his palm echoing too loudly in the car.

“He was going to be a father. Him and Maggie, they were trying to build an honest to God future.”

“So, what, it should’ve been you instead? You’d leave Carl with a father? The baby?” Rick grit his teeth slightly. The last thing he wanted to hear Shane talk about was Judith and his choice of words didn’t go unnoticed. “Look man, you made your choice, you took on leadership of this group. Your job is to stay alive to keep them alive. No one is gonna make it out here forever, but you sittin’ here feeling sorry for yourself isn’t helping anyone.”

Rick looked over at Shane again, now sitting there in his beige uniform, his dark hair curling at the ends. His partner, with the smart-ass smirk and mischievous eyes, starred back at him.

“No one said this would be easy, brother. Time to put your boots back on and get to work.”

When Rick’s eyes opened again, he was staring at his bedroom ceiling. Michonne was beside him, quiet but still awake.

Rest in peace, now get up and go to war.

**Author's Note:**

> It's so tough to leave Shane behind.


End file.
